Reverb Picks: The Best Forums

Published Oct 17

If you’ve spent any time researching gear online, you’ve probably
encountered your share of forum threads. If you’ve spent much time on the
forums, you’ve probably encountered a legion of fanatics armed with knowledge of the minutiae
of everything from vintage drum badges to the different types of screws used in
various eras of Boss manufacturing. That and the occasional flame war.

We thought we’d take a minute to give a shoutout to some of favorite gear
forums in a totally arbitrary best-in-class style breakdown.

“Telecaster” is the most searched-for word on Reverb, and for further proof of the Tele’s enduring popularity, look no further than
TDPRI, the mothership of guitar forums. TDPRI is replete with info
on every conceivable topic relating to the Telecaster. Sure, plenty of
posts might just be unabashed Fender porn, but is there really anything
wrong with that? (ahem...see the rest of the
GAS Tank blog).

If you’re looking for help with your interface, DAW, signal path, or just about anything else, you can probably find the answer
on Gearslutz somewhere. The gearheads of Gearslutz might be a little on the snooty side, and the reviews can veer towards hyperbole. But that shouldn't detract from the sheer depth of information packed into these pages. It's enough to blow a fuse on even your most trusted outboard
compressor.

When it comes to bass forums, the nods got to go to TalkBass. You can
find anything and everything relating to the bass on this board. With
hundreds of thousands of threads and over 200,000 users, TalkBass is easily
one of the most active forums in the whole gear world. There's also a great sense of bass-player solidarity between its low-end leaning membership.

Offsetguitars is a bit smaller of a community than the TDPRIs of the
world, but it still features plenty of great guitar discussion and tantalizing
eye-candy. Much of this forum is focused on offset benchmark Jaguars and Jazzmasters, but aficionados of offbeat Japanese vintage axes will also
feel right at home.

Best Forum to Help You Sound Like the Soundtrack from an '80s Action Flick:

Vintage Synth Explorer is an invaluable resource for all things vintage
synth. Apart from an incredible database of makes and models, Vintage Synth
Explorer is also home to an active forum. Lots of good information in the
buyer’s
guide section for anyone looking to break into the rich world of
musical synthesis, along with a wide assortment of synth samples, shootouts
and other synth resources.

The Gear Page is an excellent place to learn the wonders of how to GAS for a pedal for months, then sell it two weeks later for something new. Most members of The Gear Page seem to be on a constant quest for a perfect rig along the lines of a vintage Gibson running through an original Klon into a Dumble amp. The Gear Page is probably the only place in the world where one can feel inadequate for only having one Strymon pedal.